Immunosuppressant

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an immunosuppressive agent which comprises at least one compound selected from the compounds of formula ##STR1## wherein R represents a hydrogen atom or an acyl, Y represents carbonyl or hydroxymethylene and   represents a single bond or a double bond and their lactones, in an effective amount and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier; a method of prophylaxis and therapy for suppressing rejection or autoimmune diseases which comprises administering the above-mentioned compound or its lactone in an effective amount; and a novel compound of formula ##STR2## or its lactone.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to the new uses of the extracts from a certain kind of microorganisms including genus Isaria and their analogues, and their related novel compounds.

BACKGROUND ART AND DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

As an immunosuppressant known heretofore, ciclosporin can be mentioned. Ciclosporin has been used for suppression of rejection in transplantation of the kidney and possesses an excellent immunosuppressive effect.

Ciclosporin, however, has a drawback that it causes side effects (e.g. renal disturbances, hepatic disturbances).

Therefore, there has been demanded immunosuppressants which have potent immunosuppressive activities and the lowest possible side effects.

From such a viewpoint, the present inventors have conducted extensive studies to find that the compounds of the formula (I) mentioned below which include novel compound and their lactone possessed excellent immunosuppressive activities while having lower side effects, and further studies have led to the completion of the present invention.

That is, this invention relates to immunosuppressive agents which comprise at least one compound selected from the compounds of formula ##STR3## wherein R represents a hydrogen atom or an acyl, Y represents carbonyl or hydroxymethylene and bond represents a single bond or a double bond [hereinafter referred to as compounds (I)] and their lactones, in an effective amount and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, to a method for suppressing rejection or a method of prophylaxis and therapy for autoimmune diseases which comprises administering at least one compound selected from compounds (I) and their lactones in an effective amount, and to a compound of the formula (I-1) ##STR4## and its lactone.

Referring to R in the present specification, mention is made of, for example, alkanoyls having 2 to 5 carbon atoms such as acetyl, propionyl, butyryl, pivaloyl, etc. and aromatic acyls having 7 to 11 carbon atoms such as benzoyl, phenylacetyl, etc as the acyl.

Preferred compounds (I) and their lactones are as shown below: ##STR5##

Among the above-mentioned compounds, the last two compounds, namely, the compound of the formula (I-1) and its lactone are novel compounds.

The compound of the formula (I) wherein R is a hydrogen atom, is a double bond and Y is carbonyl which is the compound obtained in accordance with Example 1 mentioned hereafter, namely, ISP-I is known as Myriocin or Thermozymocidin [See The Journal of Antibiotics, vol. XXV No. 2, 109-115 (1972), The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 38(7), 1253-1260 (1973), J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. I, 1613-1619 (1983), J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 488-490 (1982) etc.], with its action being an antifungal action.

Compounds (I) and their lactones can be produced by fermentation method or synthesis method in accordance with, for example, the following Production Methods 1-5.

The production method for ISP-I has been disclosed in the above literatures as well.

Production Method 1 (Fermentation Method)

ISP-I can be usually produced by fermenting an ISP-I-producing microorganism and collecting ISP-I from the culture. As the microorganisms to be used, mention is made of, for example, those belonging to Ascomycotina and Deuteromycotina, more specifically, genus Isaria and genus Mycelia belonging to Deuteromycotina and genus Myriococcus (Thielavia) belonging to Ascomycotina, which are respectively deposited at American Type Culture Collection as Isaria sinclairii ATCC No. 74121, Myriococcum albomyces ATCC No. 74120 and Mycelia sterilia ATCC No. 74122, under terms of the Budapest Treaty.

ISP-I can also be produced by a mutant which can be obtained by modification of a strain mentioned above by way of a conventional artificial mutating means such as ultraviolet rays, microwave radioactive rays and chemicals.

ISP-I producing microorganisms can be cultivated in various culture-media comprising usual nutrient sources for fungi. For example, there can be suitably added glucose, starches, glycerine, sugar millet jelly, dextrin, molasses, maltose, xylose, and the like as carbon sources; inorganic or organic nitrogen compounds such as corn steep liquor, peptone, yeast extract, potato extract, meat extract, soy bean meal, wheat germ, potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, casein, gluten meal, cotton seed meal, feather meal as nitrogen sources; other conventional inorganic salts; and conventional additives for cultivation, such as organic and inorganic substances and antifoaming agents which help growth of microorganisms and can promote the production of ISP-I.

Though there is no particular limitation to the cultivation method thereof, aerobic submerged cultivation is more advantageous. The preferable culture temperature in the case of strains belonging to genus Isaria is in the range from 20° C. to 35° C., more preferably 25° C. to 30° C., and that in the case of strains of genus Myriococcum or Mycelia is in the range from 30° C. to 50° C., preferably 35° C. to 45° C.

The ISP-I produced in the culture can be harvested from the culture by conventional procedures such as extraction, adsorption or by combination of conventional procedures. For example, in the case of strains such as Isaria sinclairii belonging to genus Isaria, insoluble matters such as cells are removed by a separation method such as filtration or centrifugation, and the resulting culture filtrate is put in contact with Amberlite XAD-2 to adsorb the ISP-I for harvesting. The thus-obtained ISP-I is dissolved in methanol, and the dissolved objective ISP-I is subjected to reverse phase chromatography for fractionation to obtain highly purified ISP-I. In the case of strains such as Myriococcum albomyces and Mycelia sterilia which belong to genus Myriococcum or genus Mycelia, cells are removed from the culture by a separation method such as filtration and centrifugation, and the culture filtrate is subjected to the same procedure as that in the case of strains of genus Isaria. Meanwhile, ISP-I is extracted from the separated cells with methanol and the extract is subjected to Amberlite XAD-2 as for the filtrate, followed by further purification such as chromatography or recrystallization to give ISP-I.

The compounds (I) and their lactones other than ISP-I can be produced, for example, by the following methods.

Production Method 2 (Synthesis Method)

The lactones of the compounds (I) can be produced by 1 treating the corresponding compounds (I) including ISP-I with an inorganic acid such as hydrochloric acid or an organic acid such as acetic acid or 2 treating them with a tertiary alcohol such as tert-amyl alcohol.

The reaction 1 can be conducted usually in the presence of a solvent inert to the reaction (e.g. an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol). The reaction temperature is usually in the range from 0° C. to 50° C., preferably about room temperature, and the reaction time is usually 10 to 30 hours, preferably about 20 hours.

The reaction temperature in the reaction 2 is usually in the range from 80° C. to 150° C., preferably 100° C. to 120° C. The reaction time is usually 10 to 30 hours, preferably about 20 hours.

Production Method 3 (Synthesis Method)

Among the compounds (I) including ISP-I, the compounds (I) wherein is a single bond and their lactones can be produced by hydrogenating the corresponding compounds (I) wherein is a double bond or their lactones.

Such hydrogenation is conducted in the presence of a conventional catalyst such as a palladium compound, a nickel compound or a platinum compound. The reaction is usually conducted in the presence of a solvent (e.g. an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol). The reaction temperature usually ranges from 0° C. to 50° C., preferably about room temperature, and the reaction time is usually 1 to 10 hours, preferably about several hours.

Production Method 4 (Synthesis Method)

The compounds (I) wherein Y is hydroxymethylene and their lactones can be produced by reducing the corresponding compounds (I) wherein Y is carbonyl or their lactones.

The reduction reaction can be conducted by a metal hydrogen complex compound such as sodium borohydride or lithium aluminum hydride.

The reaction is conducted usually in the presence of a solvent (e.g. an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol). The reaction temperature is usually 0°-50° C., preferably about room temperature, and the reaction time is usually 0.5-4 hours, preferably about 1 hour.

Production Method 5 (Synthesis Method)

The compounds (I) wherein R is an acyl or their lactones can be produced by acylating the corresponding compounds (I) wherein R is a hydrogen atom or their lactones by a per se known means.

As the acylating agent to be used for the acylation, mention is made of, for example, acid anhydrides, acid halides, active esters and the like.

The acylation reaction can be carried out under per se known conditions.

The compounds (I) and their lactones possess excellent immunosuppressive actions, and therefore are usable as a suppressive agent for rejection in organ or marrow transplantation, as a prophylactic or therapeutic agent for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, multiple sclerosis, grave myasthenia, I-type diabetes, endocrine ophthalmopathy, primary biliary cirrhosis, Crohn's diseases, glomerulonephritis, sarcoidosis, psoriasis, pemphigus, hypoplastic anemia, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and allergy, or as a medical and pharmaceutical reagent to humans, cattles, horses, dogs, mice, rats and so on.

The compounds (I) or their lactones are admixed with carriers, excipients, diluents and the like to be formulated into dosage forms such as powders, capsules, tablets, injections for administration to patients. They may also be lyophilized into a pharmaceutical composition by a per se known means.

While the dosage of the compounds (I) or their lactones varies depending on diseases, symptoms, body weight, sex, age and so on, for the suppression in kidney transplantation, for example, they can be usually administered at the daily dosage per adult of 0.1-10 mg (potency), in one to several divided doses.

EXAMPLES

The following examples will illustrate this invention in more detail, though this invention should not be restricted to these examples as far as it comes within the scope of this invention. Immunosuppressive activities were assayed by the following methods.

Said activities are assayed based on various immune reactions using mouse, rat and human lymphocytes; for example, immunosuppressive activities are assayed with high sensitivity by using mouse, rat or human allogenic mixed lymphocyte reactions (allogenic MLR). Allogenic MLR is blastogenesis of lymphocytes induced by mixed culture of lymphocytes derived from two individuals that are allogenic but different in their major histocompatibility antigens, such as spleen cells, lymphnode cells and peripheral blood lymphocytes. This allogenic MLR is a reaction representing a phenomenon which reflects the difference in the major histocompatibility antigens among the donors; for example, blastogenesis of lymphocytes cannot be observed by the mixed culture of lymphocytes from monozygotic twins. Therefore, allogenic MLR is widely used for selection of the donor and the recipient in organ transplantation.

It is usual for allogenic MLR that the lymphocytes from one of the two donors are used as stimulator cells after treatment with X-ray irradiation or with mitomycin C to inhibit their mitotic proliferation, while blastogenesis of the lymphocytes from the other donor (responder cells) is measured (one way-MLR).

Immunosuppressive activities can be determined also by measuring the activities to suppress the induction of major histocompatibility antigens-restricted cytotoxic T cells in allogenic MLR.

In addition, immunosuppressive activities can be evaluated also as the activities to suppress blastogenesis of lymphocytes induced by stimulation with various mitogens (e.g. concanavalin A, phytohemagglutinin, pokeweed mitogen, etc.), or as the activities to suppress the mitotic proliferation or induction of functions of lymphocytes induced by cytokines (e.g. interleukin 1, 2, 3 ,4 ,5, 6, etc.) which enhance the mitotic proliferation or promote differentiation of lymphocytes such as T cells and B cells. Immunosuppressive activities can also be evaluated as the activities to suppress the production of such cytokines from T cells, macrophages, etc.

Immunosuppressive activities can also be evaluated as the activities to suppress the induction of plasma cells producing the anti-xenogenic red blood cell antibodies induced within mouse spleen cells which have been immunized in advance with xenogenic red blood cells, etc. by intraperitoneal, oral, intravenous or intradermal injection to mice, or as the activities to suppress rejection in organ transplantation from allogenic mice, graft-versus-host reaction, delayed allergy, adjuvant arthritis, etc.

Furthermore, immunosuppressive activities can be evaluated as the suppression of production of anti-DNA antibody, production of rheumatoid factor, nephritis, abnormal proliferation of lymphocytes, or as the life-prolonging effect in MRL/lpr mice, NZB/WF₁ mice or BXSB mice, which are the model mice of autoimmune diseases, by the administration of the compounds (I) or their lactones.

EXAMPLE 1 (i) Jar cultivation of Isaria sinclairii

One hundred ml of the GPY medium (30 g of glucose, 5 g of peptone, 3 g of yeast extract, 0.3 g of KH₂ PO₄, 0.3 g of K₂ HPO₄ and 0.3 g of MgSO₄ ·7H₂ O in one liter, pH 5.5) was placed into each of two 500 ml-long-neck shaking flasks, and autoclaved at 121° C. for 20 minutes, followed by inoculation of about 1 cm² of mycelia of Isaria sinclairii ATCC No.74121 grown on the potato dextrose agar medium, which was then incubated at 25° C. for 6 days in a reciprocal shaker (145 rpm, amplitude: 8 cm). The resultant culture was inoculated as the seed into the 10 1-fermentation jar in which 5 1 of the GPY medium described above had been placed, which was then subjected to aerobic spinner culture (1 VVM, 300 rpm) at 25° C. for 10 days.

(ii) Collection of ISP-I from the culture of Isaria sinclairii

From 4.5 l of the culture obtained in (i) cells and insoluble matters were removed by filtration to give 4.0 l of culture filtrate. The obtained culture filtrate was allowed to pass through a column of Amberlite XAD-2 (φ mm×750 mm) so that ISP-I could be adsorbed. The column was washed with 4.0 l of water. Then 6 l of methanol was allowed to pass to elute ISP-I. The eluate was concentrated under reduced pressure, dissolved in 200 ml of ethyl acetate, and extracted 3 times each with 200 ml of water in a separatory funnel.

The extract with water and that with ethyl acetate were separately concentrated under reduced pressure, and freeze-dried to give 2.23 g and 0.34 g, respectively, of ISP-I.

(iii) Purification of ISP-I

ISP-I (2.23 g) obtained in (ii) by freeze-drying of the water extract was dissolved in 5 ml of water and fed to the column for reverse phase chromatography (ODS DM-1020T manufactured by Fuji-Devison Chemicals, Co.) (φ mm×h85 mm). Elution was begun with water, and fractionation was carried out by gradient elution with increasing methanol concentration. The fractions eluted with 70% methanol were concentrated to dryness under reduced pressure, dissolved in a small amount of hot methanol, and allowed to cool to give crystals of ISP-I. The crystals were dissolved again in hot methanol for recrystallization to give 40 mg of pure ISP-I.

EXAMPLE 2 (i) Jar cultivation of Myriococcum albomyces

One hundred ml of the GCY medium (20 g of glucose, 5 g of corn steep liquor, 3 g of yeast extract and 0.5 g of MgSO₄ ·7H₂ O in one liter, pH 6) was placed into each of two 500 ml-long-neck shaking flasks, and autoclaved at 121° C. for 20 minutes, followed by inoculation of about 1 cm² of mycelia of Myriococcum albomyces ATCC No. 74120 grown on the potato dextrose agar medium, which was then incubated at 40° C. for 3 days in a reciprocal shaker (145 rpm, amplitude: 8 cm). The resultant culture was inoculated as the seed into the 10 l -fermentation jar in which the GCY medium described above and 1 g of an antifoaming agent (F-18 manufactured by Dow Coning Co.) had been placed, which was then subjected to aerobic spinner culture (0.5 VVM, 300 rpm) at 40° C. for 7 days.

(ii) Collection of ISP-I from the culture of Myriococcum albomyces

From 4.5 l of the culture obtained in (i) cells were removed and the culture filtrate was obtained. The culture filtrate (4 l) was allowed to pass through a column of Amberlite XAD-2 (φ 40mm×h750 mm) so that ISP-I could be adsorbed. The column was washed with 1 l of water. Then 1 l of 30% methanol, 1 l of 50% methanol and 3 l of 80% methanol were allowed to pass in this order, and the eluate with 80% methanol containing ISP-I was collected.

Separately, the cells were extracted 3 times with methanol of an amount about 5 times that of the wet weight of the cells, and water was added to the extract to give a 30% methanol solution, which was then allowed to flow through a column of Amberlite XAD-2 (φ40 mm×h750 mm) so that ISP-I could be adsorbed. One liter of 30% methanol, 1 l of 50% methanol and 3 l of 80% methanol were allowed to flow in this order, and the eluate with 80% methanol containing ISP-I was collected.

The fractions eluted with 80% methanol from the culture filtrate and from the cells obtained as described above were combined, concentrated under reduced pressure, and freeze-dried to give 0.5 g of powders containing ISP-I.

(iii) Purification of ISP-I

The powders (0.5 g) containing ISP-I obtained in (ii) was washed with ethyl acetate and then with hot water (60° C.), dissolved in hot methanol, and allowed to cool to give crystals of ISP-I. Repeated recrystallization from methanol gave 250 mg of ISP-I.

EXAMPLE 3 (i) Jar cultivation of Mycelia sterilia

Mycelia sterilia ATCC No. 74122 was cultivated in the same manner as in Example 2 (i).

(ii) Collection of ISP-I from the culture of Mycelia sterilia

In the same way as in Example 2 (ii), 1 g of powders containing ISP-I was obtained.

(iii) Purification of ISP-I

In the same way as in Example 2 (iii), 600 mg of ISP-I was obtained.

The physical properties of the ISP-I obtained in Examples 1 to 3 are as follows. ##STR6##

melting point: 172°-177° C.

¹ H-NMR δ(ppm CD₃ OD) : 5.52(m), 5.39(m), 3.99(d), 3.87(d), 3.83(m), 3.78(d)

IR ν(KBr) : 3400, 1710, 1670, 1605, 970 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 4

One hundred mg of ISP-I was dissolved in 20 ml of methanol, to which 0.4 ml of 44% methanolic hydrochloric acid was added, and kept standing overnight at room temperature, and thereafter the solvent was evaporated off under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by chromatography on silica gel (10 g) using a mixture of chroloform and methanol (9:1), followed by recrystallization from chloroform-petroleum ether to give 75 mg of the compound having the following structure formula. ##STR7## The physical properties of the compound thus obtained are as follows:

melting point: 75°-76° C.

¹ H-NMR δ(ppm CDCl₃) : 5.62(m), 5.43(m), 4.48(m), 4.14(d), 3.75(d), 3.66(d)

IR ν(CHCl₃) 3400, 1770, 1705, 975 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 5

Fifty mg of ISP-I was dissolved in 15 ml of methanol and the solution was subjected to hydrogenation using 5% palladium carbon (40 mg) as the catalyst. Palladium carbon was filtrated off, the solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure, and repeated recrystallization from methanol gave 38 mg of the compound having the following structural formula. ##STR8## The physical properties of the compound are as follows:

melting point: 154°-155.5° C.

¹ H-NMR δ(ppm CD₃ OD) : 3.99(d), 3.87(d), 3.81(m), 3.87(d)

IR ν(KBr) : 3400, 1715, 1670 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 6

Fifty mg of ISP-I was dissolved in 15 ml of methanol, to which sodium borohydride (20 mg) was added little by little. Thirty minutes later, 1 ml of a saturated ammonium chloride solution was added to stop the reaction, followed by extraction with chloroform and recrystallization from methanol to give 46 mg of the compound having the following structural formula. ##STR9## The physical properties of the compound thus obtained are as follows:

melting point: 162°-165° C.

¹ H-NMR δ(ppm CD₃ OD) : 5.52(m), 5.38(m), 3.99(d) 3.87(d), 3.82(m), 3.78(s), 3.48(m)

IR ν(KBr) : 3300, 1665, 1635, 970 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 7

The compound obtained in Example 5 was treated in the same way as in Example 4 and the compound having the following structural formula was obtained. ##STR10## The physical properties of the compound are as follows: melting point: 96°-98° C.

¹ H-NMR δ(ppm CDCl₃) 4.49(t), 4.13(s), 3.72(m)

IR ν(KBr) : 3400, 1770, 1720 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 8

The compound obtained in Example 6 was treated in the same way as in Example 4 and the compound having the following structural formula was obtained. ##STR11## The physical properties of the compound are as follows: melting point: 55°-56° C.

¹ H-NMR δ(ppm CDCl₃) 5.61(m), 5.44(m), 4.48(m), 4.14(d), 3.72(d), 3.66(d), 3.57(m)

IR νKBr) : 3350, 1760, 975 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 9

The compound obtained in Example 5 was treated in the same way as in Example 6 and the compound having the following structural formula was obtained. ##STR12##

The physical properties of the compound are as follows: melting point: 161°-162° C.

¹ H-NMR δ(ppm CD₃ OD) : 4.00(d), 3.88(d), 3.81(m), 3.74(s), 3.49(m)

IR νKBr) : 3300, 1630 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 10

The compound obtained in Example 9 was treated in the same way as in Example 4 and the compound having the following structural formula was obtained. ##STR13## The physical properties of the compound are as follows: melting point: 71.5°-72.5° C.

¹ H-NMR δ(ppm CDCl₃) 4.49(m), 4.11(d), 3.74(d), 3.69(d), 3.58(m)

IR νKBr) : 3350, 1760 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 11

One hundred mg of ISP-I was dissolved in 30 ml of methanol, to which 10 ml of acetic anhydride was added, kept standing overnight at room temperature. Water was added to decompose acetic anhydride, and the solvent was evaporated off under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by chromatography on silica gel (10 g) using chloroform-methanol (9:1) to give 60 mg of the compound having the following structural formula. ##STR14## The physical properties of the compound are as follows: melting point: 105.5°-107° C.

¹ H-NMR δ(ppm CDCl₃) : 6.59(s), 5.62(m), 5.42(m), 4.66(m), 4.60(m)

IR νKBr) : 3300, 1760, 1710, 1650, 975 cm⁻¹

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE Experimental Example 1 (Immunosuppressive activity of immunosuppressive compounds)

The immunosuppressive activity of the compounds (I) and their lactones was assayed by using mouse allogenic mixed lymphocyte reaction (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as MLR). Mouse allogenic MLR was carried out by mixed culture of the BALB/c mouse (H-2^(d)) spleen cells as the responder cells and the mitomycin C-treated C57BL/6 (H-2^(b)) spleen cells as the stimulator cells in equal amounts.

The responder cells were prepared as follows: The spleen was resected from 5- to 6-week-old male BALB/c mice, and single cell suspension of spleen cells was prepared by using the RPMI1640 culture medium (containing 60 μg/ml of kanamycin sulfate, 2 mM of L-glutamine, 10 mM of N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonate (HEPES) and 0.1% sodium hydrogencarbonate) to which heat-inactivated fetal calf serum (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as FCS) had been added to 5%. After hemolytic treatment, the cell suspension was adjusted to a concentration of 10⁷ cells/ml by using the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 10⁻⁴ M 2-mercaptoethanol and 20% FCS, and was used as the responder cell suspension.

The stimulator cells were prepared as follows:

The spleen was resected from 5- to 6-week-old male C57BL/6 mice, and single cell suspension of spleen cells was prepared by using the RPMI1640 culture medium. After hemolytic treatment, the cells were treated with 40 μg/ml of mitomycin C at 37° C. for 60 minutes. After washing three times, the concentration of the cell suspension was adjusted to 10⁷ cells/ ml by using the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 10⁻⁴ M 2-mercaptoethanol and 20% FCS, and was used as the stimulator cell suspension.

Fifty μl of the responder cell suspension, 50μl of the stimulator cell suspension prepared by the above method, and 100 μl of the test substance were placed in 96-well microculture plates, and were cultured at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 4 days.

The blastogenesis of lymphocytes was assayed by a method of ³ H-thymidine uptake as an index. That is, after termination of the culture, 0.5 μCi/well of ³ H-thymidine was added and cultured for 4 hours. Cells were harvested by a cell-harvester, and the radioactivity incorporated into the cells was determined by a liquid scintillation counter to obtain the index of blastogenesis of lymphocytes in the mouse allogenic MLR. The suppression of the mouse allogenic MLR was evaluated by calculating the percent suppression by the following formula. The results are summarized in Tables 1A to 1D. ##EQU1##

                  TABLE 1A                                                         ______________________________________                                                                           .sup.3 H-thy-                                                                         Sup-                                  Res-   Stim-                      midine pres-                                 ponder ulator   Test       Dose   uptake sion                                  cell   cell     substance  (μg/ml)                                                                            (cpm)  (%)                                   ______________________________________                                         BALB/c --       --         --      963   --                                    --     C57BL/6  --         --      124   --                                    BALB/c C57BL/6  --         --     14375  --                                    BALB/c C57BL/6  compound of                                                                               0.001  14760  0                                                     Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.01    6436  59.2                                                  Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.1     686   100.0                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                               1       698   100.0                                                 Example 1                                                      ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 1B                                                         ______________________________________                                                                           .sup.3 H-thy-                                                                          Sup-                                 Res-   Stim-                      midine  pres-                                ponder ulator   Test       Dose   uptake  sion                                 cell   cell     substance  (μg/ml)                                                                            (cpm)   (%)                                  ______________________________________                                         BALB/c --       --         --      2125   --                                   --     C57BL/6  --         --      491    --                                   BALB/c C57BL/6  --         --     29716   --                                   BALB/c C57BL/6  compound of                                                                               0.001  29598   0.4                                                  Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.01   10394   70.0                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.1     1414   100.0                                                Example 4                                                      ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 1C                                                         ______________________________________                                                                           .sup.3 H-thy-                                                                          Sup-                                 Res-   Stim-                      midine  pres-                                ponder mulator  Test       Dose   uptake  sion                                 cell   cell     substance  (μg/ml)                                                                            (cpm)   (%)                                  ______________________________________                                         BALB/c --       --         --      6195   --                                   --     C57BL/6  --         --       55    --                                   BALB/c C57BL/6  --         --     27267   --                                   BALB/c C57BL/6  compound of                                                                               0.001  22321   23.5                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.01    8182   90.6                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.1     1952   100.0                                                Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.001  16237   52.3                                                 Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.01    9276   85.4                                                 Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.1     3017   100.0                                                Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.001  24446   13.4                                                 Example 7                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.01   34378   0                                                    Example 7                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.1     3546   100.0                                                Example 7                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.001  22815   21.1                                                 Example 8                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.01    3081   100.0                                                Example 8                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.1     1586   100.0                                                Example 8                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.001  25682   7.5                                                  Example 9                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.01   23668   17.1                                                 Example 9                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.1     3167   100.0                                                Example 9                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.001  19595   36.4                                                 Example 10                                                                     compound of                                                                               0.01   19019   39.1                                                 Example 10                                                                     compound of                                                                               0.1     2405   100.0                                                Example 10                                                                     compound of                                                                               0.001  32597   0                                                    Example 11                                                                     compound of                                                                               0.01   30777   0                                                    Example 11                                                                     compound of                                                                               0.1    23430   18.2                                                 Example 11                                                     ______________________________________                                    

The test substance was dissolved in methanol or suspended in a mixture of methanol and acetic acid, and then diluted with the RPMI1640 culture medium. Methanol and acetic acid were used at a concentration of less than 0.01%, and they did not affect the allogenic MLR at all.

The compounds (1) and their lactones in the final concentration range of 1 μg/ml to 0.001 μg/ml were examined for their suppressive activity for blastogenic response of lymphocytes in mouse allogenic MLR. As shown in Tables 1A to D, ISP-I was suppressive in mouse allogenic MLR, with the 50%-inhibition concentration (IC₅₀) being 7.1×10⁻³ μg/ml. The activities of other compounds (I) and their lactones were comparable to that of ISP-I, with the IC₅₀ values being about 1/10 that of cyclosporin A or less. However, these compounds even at the concentration of 10 μg/ml were not cytotoxic to mouse L929 cells (IC₅₀ was 10 μg/ml or more).

Blastogenesis of lymphocytes can be evaluated also by the following colorimetry using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT).

⊚ Colorimetry using MTT

The supernatant (100 μl) is removed from each well after termination of the culture, and 20 μl of the 5 mg/ml MTT solution is added to each well, which is cultured at 37° C. for 4 hours. Thereafter, 100 μl of a 0.01 N hydrochloric acid solution containing 10% sodium dodecylsulfate is added thereto and cultured at 37° C. overnight to dissolve the resultant purple crystals of formazan. The absorbancy at 550 nm is measured using a microplate absorption spectrophotometer as an index of blastogenic response of lymphocytes in mouse allogenic MLR. Suppression of mouse allogenic MLR is evaluated by calculating the percent suppression by the following formula: ##EQU2##

Experimental Example 2 (Human allogenic MLR-suppressive activity)

The human allogenic MLR-suppressive activity was assayed as follows:

Human peripheral blood lymphocytes obtained by Ficoll-Paque density gradient centrifugation of normal human peripheral blood were suspended in the RPMI1640 medium supplemented with 10% FCS, placed in plastic dishes, and incubated at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 2 hours. After termination of incubation, the supernatant after gentle pipetting was harvested and centrifuged (1000 rpm, for 5 minutes) to obtain plastic-nonadherent cells. The plastic-nonadherent cells were allowed to pass through a nylon-wool column to give nylon-nonadherent cells, and the concentration of the cell suspension was adjusted to 4×10⁶ cells/ml by using the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 10% FCS, and used as the responder cell suspension.

The plastic-adherent cells were removed from the plastic dish by vigorous pipetting after addition of phosphate buffered saline supplemented with 5% FCS and 0.02% disodium ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA). The plastic-adherent cells were treated with 40 μg/ml of mitomycin C at 37° C. for 60 minutes, washed three times, and suspended to the concentration of 4×10⁶ cells/ml in the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 10% FCS. The resultant suspension was used as the stimulator cell suspension. Fifty μl of the responder cell suspension from the donor A or C was mixed with 50 μl of the stimulator cell suspension from the donor B or D, to which 100 μl of the test substance was added, and cultured at 37° C. in the an atmosphere 5% carbon dioxide for 5 days.

After termination of the culture, 1.0 μCi/well of ³ H-thymidine was added, and after 18 hours of culture, the cells were harvested by a cell-harvester. The radioactivity incorporated into the cells was measured by a liquid scintillation counter as the index of blastogenic response of lymphocytes in human allogenic MLR. The suppression of human allogenic MLR was evaluated by calculating the percent suppression by the following formula. ##EQU3##

The compounds (1) and their lactones in the final concentration range of 10 μg/ml to 10⁻⁵ μg/ml were examined for their suppressive activity for blastogenic response of lymphocytes in human allogenic MLR. As shown in Tables 2A and 2B, the 50%-inhibition concentration (IC₅₀) of ISP-I in Example 1 of this invention in the human allogenic MLR was 1.0×10⁻⁴ μg/ml, IC₅₀ of the compound in Example 4 was 7.9×10⁻⁴ μg/ml, IC₅₀ of the compound in Example 6 was 2.2×10⁻⁴ μg/ml, and IC 50 of the compound in Example 5 was 3.5×10⁻⁴ μg/ml.

Based on the results shown in Tables 2A and 2B, the IC₅₀ values of the compounds (I) and their lactones in human allogenic MLR were found to be lower than that of ciclosporin A.

                  TABLE 2A                                                         ______________________________________                                                                           .sup.3 H-thy-                                                                          Sup-                                 Res-   Stim-                      midine  pres-                                ponder ulator   Test       Dose   uptake  sion                                 cell   cell     substance  (μg/ml)                                                                            (cpm)   (%)                                  ______________________________________                                         Donor A                                                                               --       --         --      2408   --                                   --     Donor B  --         --      118    --                                   Donor A                                                                               Donor B  --         --     23891   --                                   Donor A                                                                               Donor B  compound of                                                                               0.0001 12769   51.8                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.001   7190   77.7                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.01    8138   73.3                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.1     6922   79.0                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                               1       6690   80.1                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                               10     1082    100.0                                                Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.0001 16963   32.3                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.001  13715   47.4                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.01    9754   65.8                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.1     4734   89.2                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                               1       5954   83.5                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                               10      5332   86.4                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.0001 20789   14.4                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.001  14690   42.8                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.01   11130   59.4                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.1     5181   87.1                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                               1       5548   85.4                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                               10      2439   99.8                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.0001 14191   45.2                                                 Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.001  11753   56.2                                                 Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.01    6335   81.7                                                 Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                               0.1     6418   81.3                                                 Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                               1       5877   83.9                                                 Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                               10      4564   90.0                                                 Example 6                                                      ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 2B                                                         ______________________________________                                                                           .sup.3 H-thy-                                                                          Sup-                                 Res-   Stim-                      midine  pres-                                ponder ulator   Test       Dose   uptake  sion                                 cell   cell     substance  (μg/ml)                                                                            (cpm)   (%)                                  ______________________________________                                         Donor C                                                                               --       --           --     89    --                                   --     Donor D  --           --     56    --                                   Donor C                                                                               Donor D  --           --   17427   --                                   Donor C                                                                               Donor D  compound of                                                                                0.00001                                                                              10896   37.7                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.0001                                                                                9806   44.0                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.001  5646   67.9                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.01   4460   74.8                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.1    3613   79.2                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                                1      4167   76.5                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                               10      2018   88.8                                                 Example 1                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.00001                                                                                7746  55.8                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.0001                                                                                6700   61.9                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.001  7278   58.5                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.01   3417   80.8                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.1    2708   84.9                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                                1      3703   79.2                                                 Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                               10                                                                  Example 4                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.00001                                                                              11827   32.3                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.0001                                                                                7941   54.7                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.001  9057   48.3                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.01   7346   58.1                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.1    2746   84.7                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                                1      3466   80.5                                                 Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                               10                                                                  Example 5                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.00001                                                                              16241   6.8                                                  Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.0001                                                                               14996   14.0                                                 Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.001  8468   51.7                                                 Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.01   4082   77.0                                                 Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                                0.1    3501   80.3                                                 Example 6                                                                      compound of                                                                                1      2448   86.4                                                 Example 6                                                      ______________________________________                                    

Experimental Example 3 [Suppression of induction of alloreactive cytotoxic T cells in mouse allogenic mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC)]

The spleen cells suspension, 0.5 ml, (2×10⁷ cells/ml) of BALB/c mouse (H-2^(d)) prepared in the same way as in Experimental Example 1, 0.5 ml of a suspension of mitomycin C-treated C57BL/6 mouse (H-2^(b)) spleen cells (2×10⁷ cell/ml) and 1.0 ml of the test substance were added to 24-well multidishes, and cultured at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 6 days.

After termination of the culture, the cells were harvested by centrifugation, and the concentration of the cell suspension was adjusted to 5×10⁶ -6.25×10⁵ cells/ml by using the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 10% FCS, and used as the effector cell suspension.

The target cells used were leukemia cells EL4 from the syngenic (H-2^(b)) C57BL/b mouse as used for preparation of the stimulator cells. By incubating 10⁶ EL4 cells in the presence of 100 μCi of Na₂ ⁵¹ CrO₄ (1 mCi/ml) at 37° C. for 1 hour to incorporate ⁵¹ Cr into the cytoplasm. The cell were washed, adjusted to the concentration of 10⁴ cells/ml and used as the target cell suspension.

For the assay of the cytotoxic activity, 0.1 ml of the effector cell suspension and 0.1 ml of the target cell suspension were added to 96-well flat-bottomed plates, and cultured at 37° C. for 4 hours. The amount of ⁵¹ Cr released into the supernatant was determined and the cytotoxic activity was calculated by the following formula. ##EQU4##

The cytotoxic T cells induced by the method described above exhibited strong cytotoxic activity to the EL4 cells (H-2^(b)) which are syngenic with the stimulator cells (H-2^(b)) whereas they were not cytotoxic to the allogenic Meth A cells (H-2^(d)), and thus it was suggested that they were H-2^(b) -restricted allo-reactive cytotoxic T cells.

As shown in Table 3, addition of the compound (I) or a lactone thereof markedly inhibited the induction of the allo-reactive cytotoxic T cells and at the same time cytotoxic activity was hardly observed.

                  TABLE 3                                                          ______________________________________                                                                     Amount   Cyto-                                                                 of .sup.51 Cr                                                                           toxic                                               Test     Dose     release  activity                                            substance                                                                               (μg/ml)                                                                              (cpm)    (%)                                       ______________________________________                                         Total radioactivity                                                                        --         --       2179   --                                      of target cells                                                                Target cells alone                                                                         --         --        788   0                                       Effector cells +                                                                           --         --       1392   43.4                                    target cells                                                                   (100:1)                                                                        (50:1)      --         --       983    14.0                                    (25:1)      --         --       996    15.0                                    Effector cells +                                                                           compound of                                                                               0.01     808    1.4                                     target cells                                                                               Example 1                                                          (100:1)                                                                        (50:1)                 0.01     783    0                                       (25:1)                 0.01     816    2.0                                     Effector cells +                                                                           compound of                                                                               0.1      771    0                                       target cells                                                                               Example 1                                                          (100:1)                                                                        (50:1)                 0.1      773    0                                       (25:1)                 0.1      764    0                                       Effector cells +                                                                           compound of                                                                               0.1      761    0                                       target cells                                                                               Example 4                                                          (100:1)                                                                        (50:1)                 0.1      780    0                                       (25:1)                 0.1      767    0                                       ______________________________________                                    

Experimental Example 4 (Suppression of blastogenic response of mouse spleen cells by mitogen stimulation)

The effect on the mouse blastogenic response of mouse spleen cells stimulated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or with pokeweed mitogen (PWM) was examined as follows:

The spleen was resected from 5- to 8-week-old male spleen cells BALB/c mice, and single cell suspension of spleen cells was prepared by using the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 5% FCS. After hemolytic treatment, the concentration of the suspension was adjusted to 5×10⁶ cells/ml by using the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 10⁻⁴ M 2-mercaptoethanol and 20% FCS, to which PHA or PWM was added. One hundred μl of the cell suspension was added to each well of 96-well microculture plates to which 100 μl per well of the test solution had been added (5×10⁵ mouse spleen cells per well). After culturing at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 72 hours, 0.5 μCi/well of ³ H-thymidine was added and cultured under the same conditions for further 4 hours. After termination of the culture, the cells were harvested by a cell harvester, and the radioactivity incorporated into the cells was measured by a liquid scintillation counter, which was used as the index of blastogenic response of mouse spleen cells. The results are summarized in Table 4.

                  TABLE 4                                                          ______________________________________                                                                       .sup.3 H-thy-                                              Test       Dose     midine up-                                                                             Suppres-                                 Mitogen   substance  (μg/ml)                                                                              take (cpm)                                                                             sion (%)                                 ______________________________________                                           --        --       --       1109    --                                       PHA(1/100)                                                                                 --       --       8693    --                                       PHA(1/100) +                                                                             compound of                                                                               0.01     3238    71.9                                               Example 1                                                                                 0.1      3624    66.8                                                          1        1686    92.4                                     PHA(1/100) +                                                                             compound of                                                                               0.01     6074    34.5                                               Example 4                                                                                 0.1      4312    57.8                                                          1        3308    71.0                                     --        --         --       1916    --                                       PWM(1/100)                                                                               --         --       31646   --                                       PWM(1/100) +                                                                             compound of                                                                               0.01     13499   61.0                                               Example 1                                                                                 0.1      9895    73.2                                                          1        6529    84.5                                     PWM(1/100) +                                                                             compound of                                                                               0.01     19335   41.4                                               Example 4                                                                                 0.1      9325    75.1                                                          1        8712    77.1                                     ______________________________________                                    

As shown in Table 4, the compounds (I) and their lactones strongly inhibited the incorporation of ³ H-thymidine induced by PHA or PWM as compared with the control without the compounds.

Experimental Example 5 (Suppression of the interleukin 1 (IL1) response of mouse thymocytes)

The thymus was resected from 7-week-old male C3H/HeN mice, and single cell suspension was prepared using the serum-free RPMI1640 culture medium. After three times washing with the medium, the cells were suspended to a concentration of 1.5×10⁷ cells/ml in the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 20% fetal calf serum, 5×10⁻⁵ M 2-mercaptoethanol, 2×10⁻³ M L-glutamine, 1×10⁻³ M sodium pyruvate, 1 μg/ml of phytohemagglutinin (PHA, Wellcome Co., HA16/17) and 2 units/ml of human ultrapure interleukin 1 (Genzyme Co., GUPi-1). One hundred μl of this cell suspension and 100 μl of the solution containing ISP-I were mixed in each well of the 96-well flat-bottomed microculture plate, cultured at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 66 hours, and cultured for further 6 hours after addition of 0.5 μCi/well of ³ H-thymidine. After termination of the culture, the cells in each well were harvested onto a filter by a multiple cell harvester, and the radioactivity incorporated into the cells was measured by liquid scintillation method using a toluene-base scintillator.

The results obtained are summarized in Table 5. In the table, SD means standard deviation. The percent suppression (%) was calculated by the following formulation. ##EQU5##

                  TABLE 5                                                          ______________________________________                                                                 .sup.3 H-thymidine                                     Test          Dose      uptake      Suppres-                                   substance     (μg/ml)                                                                               (cpm ± SD)                                                                              sion (%)                                   ______________________________________                                         --            --        1389 ± 42                                                                               --                                         PHA           --        3270 ± 316                                                                              --                                         PHA + IL1 +   --        11803 ± 1740                                                                            0                                          compound of Example 1                                                                        2         3973 ± 39                                                                               91.8                                                       0.2     4646 ± 826                                                                              83.9                                       ______________________________________                                    

As shown in Table 5, it is evident that the compound (I) and the lactones thereof show suppression of the IL1 response in a dose-dependent manner.

Experimental Example 6 (Suppression of IL2 production in mouse allogenic mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) and in PHA-stimulated mouse spleen cells)

Mouse allogenic MLC was carried out as follows:

The respondor cell suspension and the stimulator cell suspension (0.5 ml each) prepared in the same way as in Experimental Example 1 together with 1 ml of test substance were added to 24-well multidishes, and cultured at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 2 days. After termination of the culture, the supernatant was collected and used as the supernatant of mouse allogenic MLC.

Culture of PHA-stimulated mouse spleen cells was carried out as follows: PHA (1/100 dilution) was added to the BALB/c mouse spleen cells suspension prepared in the same way as in Experimental Example 4. The cell suspension (1 ml) and 1 ml of the test substance were added to 24-well multidishes, and cultured at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 24 hours. After termination of the culture, the supernatant was collected and used as the supernatant of PHA-stimulated cultures.

The IL2 activity in the supernatants of mouse allogenic MLC and the supernatants of PHA-stimulated mouse spleen cells culture was assayed as follows: IL2-dependent mouse cell line CTLL-2 cells were suspended in the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 30% FCS to the concentration of 10⁵ cells/ml, and 100 μl of the suspension was added to each well of 96-well microculture plates in which 100 μl of the supernatant of the MLC described above had been placed. After culturing at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 20 hours, 0.5 μCi/well of ³ H-thymidine was added, and incubated for 4 hours under the same conditions. After termination of the culture, the cells were harvested by a cell harvester, and the radioactivity incorporated into the cells was measured by a liquid scintillation counter. IL2 activity was expressed in U/ml as the titer at various concentrations at which the ³ H-thymidine incorporation was 50% of the maximum. The results are summarized in Table 6.

                  TABLE 6                                                          ______________________________________                                                             IL2 activity                                                                              Suppres-                                        Sample              (U/ml)     sion (%)                                        ______________________________________                                         culture supernatant of responder                                                                   <1         --                                              cells alone                                                                    Culture supernatant of Untreated                                                                   9.8        --                                              MLC                                                                            Supernatant of MLC treated with                                                compound of Example 1                                                          (0.01 μg/ml)     4.0        59.2                                            (0.1 μg/ml)      2.0        79.6                                            (1 μg/ml)        1.1        88.8                                            (10 μg/ml)       <1         >90                                             Supernatant of MLC treated with                                                compound of Example 4                                                          (0.01 μg/ml)     4.0        59.2                                            (0.1 μg/ml)      1.7        82.7                                            (1 μg/ml)        <1         >90                                             (10 μg/ml)       <1         >90                                             Unstimulated culture supernatant                                                                   <1         --                                              Culture supernatant stimulated                                                                     12.1       --                                              with PHA                                                                       PHA-stimulated culture supernatant                                             treated with compound of                                                       Example 1                                                                      (0.01 μg/ml)     6.5        46.3                                            (0.1 μg/ml)      2.5        79.3                                            (1 μg/ml)        1.1        90.9                                            (10 μg/ml)       <1         >92                                             PHA-stimulated culture supernatant                                             treated with compound of                                                       Example 4                                                                      (0.01 μg/ml)     4.9        59.5                                            (0.1 μg/ml)      2.6        78.5                                            (1 μg/ml)        <1         >92                                             (10 μg/ml)       <1         >92                                             ______________________________________                                    

As shown in Table 6, it was suggested that the compounds (I) and their lactones suppress the production of IL2 in mouse allogenic MLC and in the PHA-stimulated mouse spleen cells.

Experimental Example 7 [Suppression of IL-2 induced ³ H-thymidine incorporation of IL2-dependent mouse cell line CTLL-2]

IL2-dependent mouse cell line CTLL-2 cells were suspended in the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 30% FCS to a concentration of 2×10⁵ cells/ml. The suspension (50 μl) and 50 μl of concanavalin A-stimulated rat spleen cell culture supernatants containing IL2 were added to each well of 96-well microculture plates in which 100 μl of the test substance had been placed. After culturing at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 20, 44, or 68 hours, 0.5 μCi/well of ³ H-thymidine was added, and cultured for 4 hours under the same conditions. After termination of the culture, the cells were harvested by a cell harvester, and the radioactivity incorporated into the cells was measured by a liquid scintillation counter. The results are summarized in Table 7.

                  TABLE 7                                                          ______________________________________                                         Incuba-                        .sup.3 H-                                       tion          Test      Dose   thymidine                                                                               Suppres-                               time   IL2    substance (μg/ml)                                                                            uptake (cpm)                                                                            sion (%)                               ______________________________________                                         24 hrs.                                                                               -      --        --      185     --                                            +      --        --     6671     --                                            +      compound  0.01   6003     10.3                                                 of Example                                                                     1                                                                       +                0.1    3722     45.5                                          +                1      3977     41.5                                          +                10     1968     72.5                                          +      compound  0.01   5907     11.8                                                 of Example                                                                     4                                                                       +                0.1    4240     37.5                                          +                1      5400     19.6                                          +                10     2602     62.7                                   48 hrs.                                                                               -      --        --      436     --                                            +      --        --     25216    --                                            +      compound  0.01   19592    22.7                                                 of Example                                                                     1                                                                       +                0.1    7324     72.2                                          +                1      4794     82.4                                          +                10     1649     95.1                                          +      compound  0.01   21930    13.3                                                 of Example                                                                     4                                                                       +                0.1    9202     64.6                                          +                1      7202     72.7                                          +                10     7465     71.6                                   72 hrs.                                                                               -      --        --      683     --                                            +      --        --     78515    --                                            +      compound  0.01   56688    28.0                                                 of Example                                                                     1                                                                       +                0.1    2436     97.7                                          +                1       846     99.8                                          +                10      478     100.0                                         +      compound  0.01   69355    11.8                                                 of Example                                                                     4                                                                       +                0.1    16705    79.4                                          +                1      4088     95.6                                          +                10     11806    85.7                                   72 hrs.                                                                               -      --        --      56      --                                            +      --        --     30168    --                                            +      compound  0.1    26108    13.5                                                 of Example                                                                     5                                                                       +                1      1532     95.1                                          +      compound  0.1    7237     76.2                                                 of Example                                                                     6                                                                       +                1      1346     95.7                                          +      compound  0.1    37960    0                                                    of Example                                                                     7                                                                       +                1      2088     93.3                                          +      compound  0.1    7262     76.1                                                 of Example                                                                     8                                                                       +                1      1591     94.9                                          +      compound  0.1    33835    0                                                    of Example                                                                     9                                                                       +                1      2247     92.7                                          +      compound  0.1    28083    6.9                                                  of Example                                                                     10                                                                      +                1      1844     94.1                                          +      compound  0.1    33948    0                                                    of Example                                                                     11                                                                      +                1      4876     84.0                                   ______________________________________                                    

As shown in Table 7, the compounds (I) and their lactones strongly suppressed IL2-induced ³ H-thymidine incorporation of CTLL-2 cells.

Experimental Example 8 (Suppression of induction of interleukin 2 receptor (IL-2R, Tac) expression in mouse allogenic MLC and PHA-stimulated mouse spleen cells)

Mouse allogenic MLC and PHA-stimulated mouse spleen cells were prepared in the same as in Experimental Example 3.

The IL-2R (Tac) induced in mouse allogenic MLC and PHA-stimulated mouse spleen cells was assayed as follows:

After culturing the mouse allogenic MLC and the PHA-stimulated mouse spleen cells at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 24 hours, the cells were collected by centrifugation (1000 rpm, 5 minutes, 4° C.), and about 10⁶ cells were cultured in 10 μl of phosphate buffered saline (PBS), to which 0.02% sodium azide-containing rat anti-mouse IL-2R monoclonal antibody (manufactured by Boehringer Co., 40 μg/ml) had been added, for 30 minutes with ice-cooling. After washing three times with ice-cooled PBS containing 0.02% sodium azide, 50 μl of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled goat anti-rat immunoglobulin G antibody was added and cultured for 30 minutes with ice-cooling. To the cell pellet after washing three times with ice-cooled 0.02% sodium azide-added PBS was added, a few drops of PBS containing 0.2% sodium azide and 50% glycerin. Prepared specimens on non-fluorescent slide glasses were made and the IL-2R positive cells were counted under a fluorescent microscope to determine the ratio of numbers of IL-2R positive cells in the total numbers of the cells.

                  TABLE 8                                                          ______________________________________                                                             IL-2R positive                                                                             Suppres-                                                           cells (%)   sion (%)                                       ______________________________________                                         Respondor cells     0           --                                             Untreated MLC cells 24.4        --                                             MLC cells treated with compound                                                of Example 1                                                                   (0.001 μg/ml)    22.4        8.2                                            (0.01 μg/ml)     17.6        27.9                                           (0.1 μg/ml)      13.1        44.3                                           (1 μg/ml)        11.4        53.3                                           Unstimulated spleen cells                                                                          0           --                                             Untreated PHA-stimulated                                                                           46.2        --                                             spleen cells                                                                   PHA-stimulated spleen cells                                                    treated with compound                                                          of Example 1                                                                   (0.1 μg/ml)      36.6        20.8                                           (1 μg/ml)        26.6        42.4                                           (10 μg/ml)       13.4        71.0                                           ______________________________________                                    

As shown in Table 8, it was suggested that the compounds (I) and their lactones suppress the expression of IL-2R induced by stimulation with the alloantigen and with PHA in a concentration-dependent manner.

Experimental Example 9 (Suppression of IL3 production in mouse allogenic MLC and PHA-stimulated mouse spleen cells)

The supernatant of mouse allogenic MLC and the supernatant of PHA-stimulated mouse spleen cells culture were prepared in the same manner as in Experimental Example 6.

The IL3 activity in the supernatant described above was assayed as follows: IL3-dependent mouse cell line FDC-P2 cells were suspended in the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 10% FCS to the concentration of 10⁵ cells/ml, and 100 μl of the suspension was added to each well of 96-well microculture plates in which 100 μl per well of the two-fold serial dilutions of the supernatant described above had been placed. After culturing at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 20 hours, 0.5 μCi/well of ³ H-thymidine was added, and cultured for further 4 hours under the same conditions. After termination of the culture, the cells were harvested by a cell harvester, and the radioactivity incorporated into the cells was measured by a liquid scintillation counter. The IL3 activity was expressed in U/ml as the titer at the concentrations at which the amount of ³ H-thymidine incorporated was 50% of the maximum. The results are summarized in Table 9.

                  TABLE 9                                                          ______________________________________                                                               IL3 activity                                                                             Suppres-                                       Sample                (U/ml)    sion (%)                                       ______________________________________                                         culture supernatant of responder                                                                     <2        --                                             cells alone                                                                    Culture supernatant of Untreated MLC                                                                 36.8      --                                             Supernatant of MLC treated with                                                compound of Example 1                                                          (0.01 μg/ml)       13.9      62.2                                           (0.1 μg/ml)        12.1      67.1                                           (1 μg/ml)          9.8       73.4                                           (10 μg/ml)         <2        >95                                            Supernatant of MLC treated with                                                compound of Example 4                                                          (0.01 μg/ml)       26.0      29.3                                           (0.1 μg/ml)        16.0      56.5                                           (1 μg/ml)          8.6       76.6                                           (10 μg/ml)         6.1       83.4                                           Unstimulated culture supernatant                                                                     <2        --                                             Culture supernatant stimulated                                                                       17.1      --                                             with PHA                                                                       PHA-stimulated culture supernatant                                             treated with compound of                                                       Example 1                                                                      (0.01 μg/ml)       4.0       76.6                                           (0.1 μg/ml)        <2        >90                                            (1 μg/ml)          <2        >90                                            (10 μg/ml)         <2        >90                                            PHA-stimulated culture supernatant                                             treated with compound of                                                       Example 4                                                                      (0.01 μg/ml)       9.1       46.8                                           (0.1 μg/ml)        2.8       83.6                                           (1 μg/ml)          2.3       86.5                                           (10 μg/ml)         <2        >90                                            ______________________________________                                    

As shown in Table 9, it was suggested that the compounds (I) and their lactones suppress the IL3 production in mouse allogenic MLC and PHA-stimulated mouse spleen cells.

Experimental Example 10 [Suppression of proliferation of IL3-dependent mouse cell line FDC-P2 induced by interluekin 3 (IL3)]

IL3-dependent mouse cell line FDC-P2 cells were suspended in the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 10% FCS to the concentration of 2×10⁵ cells/ml. One hundred μl of the suspension and 50 μl of the supernatant of the culture of mouse luekemia cells WEHI3 containing IL3 were added to each well of 96-well microculture plates in which 100 μl of the test substance had been placed. After culturing at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 20 hours, 0.5 μCi/well of ³ H-thymidine was added, and cultured for 4 hours under the same conditions. After termination of the culture, the cells were harvested by a cell harvester, and the radioactivity incorporated into the cells was determined by a liquid scintillation counter, and was used as an index of the IL3-dependent proliferation.

As shown in Table 10, the compounds (I) and their lactones suppressed the increase of IL3-induced ³ H-thymidine incorporation into FDC-P2 cells. It was thus suggested that the immunosuppressive compounds of this invention have the activity to suppress the IL3-dependent proliferation.

                  TABLE 10                                                         ______________________________________                                                Test       Dose     .sup.3 H-thymidine                                                                      Suppres-                                   IL3    substance  (μg/ml)                                                                              uptake (cpm)                                                                            sion (%)                                   ______________________________________                                         -      --         --       1540     --                                         +      --         --       8315     --                                         +      compound of                                                                               0.001    6858     21.5                                              Example 1                                                               +                 0.01     6572     25.7                                       +                 0.1      5203     45.9                                       +                 1        5029     48.5                                       +                 10       2750     82.1                                       +      compound of                                                                               0.001    7754      8.3                                              Example 4                                                               +                 0.01     6557     25.9                                       +                 0.1      5861     36.2                                       +                 1        4922     50.1                                       +                 10       2902     79.9                                       ______________________________________                                    

(In the table, the marks `+` and `-` mean the presence of IL3 and the absence of IL3, respectively.)

Experimental Example 11 (Suppression of interleukin 6 (IL6) response of mouse spleen cells)

The spleen was resected from 8-week-old male BALB/c mice, and single cell suspension in the serum-free RPMI1640 culture medium was prepared, and thereafter cell pellets were obtained by centrifugation (1000 rpm, 5 minutes) of the suspension. Then a mixture of 9 parts of a 0.16 M ammonium chloride solution and 1 part of a 0.17 M Tris solution (pH 7.65) was added to lyse red blood cells, and the suspension was washed three times with the serum-free RPMI1640 culture medium. The obtained cells were suspended to the concentration of 5×10⁶ cells/ml in the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 20% FCS, 5×10⁻⁵ M 2-mercaptoethanol, 2×10⁻³ M L glutamine, 1×10⁻³ sodium pyruvate and 25% of the supernatant of the culture of T24 human bladder carcinoma cell line as a source of interluekin 6. One hundred μl of this cell suspension and 100 μl of the test substance were mixed in each well of 96-well microculture plates, and cultured at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 72 hours. After termination of the culture, 50 μl of the cell suspension was collected from each well. Three hundred μl of the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 0.7% agarose gel, 20 μl of physiological saline containing 40% protein A-bound sheep red blood cells and 20 μl of 300-fold dilution of anti-mouse IgG anti-serum diluted in physiological saline were mixed in a test tube, and extended uniformly on Rohduck plates (Falcon Co. 1034). After gel formation by keeping still at room temperature for a few minutes, the plates were cultured at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for about 4 hours.

Three hundred μl of a 40-fold dilution of guinea pig complement in the serum-free RPMI1640 culture medium was added to each plate, which was then incubated for further 2 hours. The number of plaques formed was counted under stereoscopic microscope.

The results of this procedure are summarized in Table 11. SD in the Table means standard deviation. The percent suppression (%) was calculated by the following formula. ##EQU6##

                  TABLE 11                                                         ______________________________________                                                              Number of                                                                      plaque                                                               Dose      (plaque/1 × 10.sup.6                                                                  Suppression                                  Test substance                                                                            (μ g/ml)                                                                              cells ± SD)                                                                              (%)                                          ______________________________________                                         --         --        12 ± 2    --                                           IL6        --        206 ± 12  0                                            IL6 + compound                                                                            2         60 ± 8    75.3                                         of Example 1                                                                              0.2       78 ± 6    66.0                                                    0.02      108 ± 10  50.5                                                    0.002     130 ± 4   39.2                                         ______________________________________                                    

As shown in Table 11, it is evident that the compounds (I) and their lactones have the suppressive effect of the IL6 response does-dependent.

Experimental Example 12 (Suppression for mouse anti-sheep red blood cell antibody production)

Males 5- to 7-week-old BALB/c mice were immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC), and the spleen was resected three or four days later. By counting the plaque forming cells (PFC), suppressive effect on the production of the anti-sheep red blood cell antibody was examined as follows.

Experiment 1:

BALB/c mice were immunized with SRBC (1×10⁷ cells/mouse, intravenous administration), and ISP-I in the Example 1 was administered intraperitoneally for 4 consecutive days from the day of immunization. Four days after immunization (the next day of the final administration), the spleen was resected and the anti-sheep red blood cell antibody-producing cells were determined by the direct plaque method. At the same time the body weight of the mouse, wet weight of the thymus and the spleen, and numbers of spleen cells were also determined.

Experiment 2:

BALB/c mice were immunized with SRBC (5×10⁷ cells/mouse, intravenous administration), and the compound in the Example 5 was administered intraperitoneally for 4 consecutive days from the day of immunization. Four days after immunization (the next day of the final administration), the spleen was resected, and the anti-sheep red blood cell antibody-producing cells were determined by the direct plaque method. At the same time, the body weight of the mouse, wet weight of the thymus and the spleen, and numbers of spleen cells were also determined.

                                      TABLE 12B                                    __________________________________________________________________________     Test          Body          Number of                                          sub-   Dose   weight                                                                             Wet weight (mg)                                                                          spleen cells                                                                          Number of PFC                               stance (mg/kg/day)                                                                           (g) thymus                                                                              spleen                                                                              (× 10.sup.8 cell)                                                               × 10.sup.3 /1 × 10.sup.7                                           cell      × 10.sup.4 /spleen          __________________________________________________________________________     --     --     10 ± 1                                                                          47 ± 6                                                                           134 ± 6                                                                          0.9 ± 0.1                                                                          17.0 ± 8.5                                                                            15.4 ± 7.7                     Compound of                                                                           10     18 ± 1                                                                          25 ± 9                                                                           103 ± 30                                                                         1.3 ± 0.2                                                                           6.7 ± 1.2                                                                             8.5 ± 1.9                     Example 8                                                                      __________________________________________________________________________

                                      TABLE 12A                                    __________________________________________________________________________     Test          Body          Number of                                          sub-   Dose   weight                                                                             Wet weight (mg)                                                                          spleen cells                                                                          Number of PFC                               stance (mg/kg/day)                                                                           (g) thymus                                                                              spleen                                                                              (× 10.sup.8 cell)                                                               × 10.sup.3 /1 × 10.sup.7                                           cell      × 10.sup.4 /spleen          __________________________________________________________________________     Experiment 1                                                                   --     --     25 ± 1                                                                          48 ± 12                                                                          237 ± 28                                                                         1.4 ± 0.2                                                                          2.2 ± 1.6                                                                             1.4 ± 0.8                      Compound of                                                                           0.3    23 ± 2                                                                          48 ± 5                                                                           202 ± 4                                                                          1.4 ± 0.3                                                                          1.4 ± 0.4                                                                             0.9 ± 0.3                      Example 1                                                                             1      23 ± 1                                                                          50 ± 1                                                                           206 ± 32                                                                         1.3 ± 0.4                                                                          0.5 ± 0.2                                                                             0.3 ± 0.1                             3      19 ± 1                                                                          25 ± 14                                                                          137 ± 17                                                                         1.3 ± 0.2                                                                          0.2 ± 0.1                                                                             0.1 ± 0.0                      Experiment 2                                                                   --     --     24 ± 1                                                                          58 ± 10                                                                          295 ± 18                                                                         2.4 ± 0.4                                                                          9.4 ± 3.9                                                                             21.6 ± 8.5                     Compound of                                                                           10     24 ± 1                                                                          52 ± 5                                                                           239 ± 40                                                                         2.3 ± 0.3                                                                          5.6 ± 1.7                                                                             12.9 ± 3.9                     Example 5                                                                      __________________________________________________________________________

As shown in Table 12A and B, it is evident that the compound (I) and the lactones thereof have a suppressive effect on anti-sheep red blood cell antibody production, that is, they decrease PFC numbers per unit spleen cells numbers (1×10⁷ cells) and PFC number per total spleen cells numbers.

Experimental Example 13 (Suppression of allo-reactive cytotoxic T cells induced by immunization of mouse with allogenic cells)

Male BALB/c mice were immunized with spleen cells of C57BL/6 mice (5×10⁷ cells/mouse, intraperitoneal administration), and ISP-I in Example 1 was administered intraperitoneally 6 times at the doses of 0.1 mg/kg/day from the next day of immunization. Eight days after immunization, the spleen was resected to prepare effector cells, with which the ⁵¹ Cr release test was carried out as in Experimental Example 3, using EL4 cells as the target cells to measure the cytotoxic activity.

As shown in Table 13, it is evident that administration of the compound (I) or a lactone thereof suppresses the induction of allo-reactive cytotoxic T cells.

                  TABLE 13                                                         ______________________________________                                                             Amount of   Cytotoxic                                                          .sup.51 Cr  activity                                                 Test substance                                                                           release (cpm)                                                                              (%)                                            ______________________________________                                         Total radioactivity                                                                        --          7235        --                                         of target cells                                                                Target cells alone                                                                         --           720        --                                         Effector cells +                                                               target cells                                                                   (100:1)     --          2618        29                                         (50:1)      --          2340        25                                         (25:1)      --          1436        11                                         Effector cells +                                                               target cells                                                                   (100:1)     compound of 1543        13                                                     Example 1                                                          (50:1)                  1258         8                                         (25:1)                  1046         5                                         ______________________________________                                    

Experimental Example 14 (Cytotoxicity to mouse L929 cells)

Cytotoxicity to mouse L929 cells was assayed as follows:

L929 cells were suspended to the concentration of 1.5×10⁵ cells/ml in the F12 culture medium supplemented with 10% FCS. One hundred μl of the suspension was added to each well of 96-well microculture plates, and cultured at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 24 hours, to which 100 μl of the test solution was added and cultured for further 48 hours. After the culture, 100 μl of the supernatant was removed and the absorbancy at 550 nm was measured in the same way as the colormetry using MTT in Experimental Example 1. The percent suppression was calculated by the following formula used as the index of cytotoxicity. ##EQU7## The results are summarized in Table 14A and B.

                  TABLE 14A                                                        ______________________________________                                                       Dose                 Suppression                                 Test substance                                                                               (μg/ml)                                                                               Absorbancy (%)                                         ______________________________________                                         --            --        0.669      --                                          Compound of Example 1                                                                         1        0.699      0                                                          10       0.693      0                                                         100       0.321      52.0                                        ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 14B                                                        ______________________________________                                                        Dose                Suppression                                 Test substance (μg/ml)                                                                              Absorbancy (%)                                         ______________________________________                                         --             --       0.573      --                                          Compound of Example 5                                                                         0.1      0.775      0                                                          1        0.805      0                                                          10       0.749      0                                           Compound of Example 6                                                                         0.1      0.732      0                                                          1        0.714      0                                                          10       0.733      0                                           Compound of Example 7                                                                         0.1      0.799      0                                                          1        0.811      0                                                          10       0.696      0                                           Compound of Example 8                                                                         1        0.817      0                                                          10       0.738      0                                                          100      0.023      96.0                                        Compound of Example 9                                                                         1        0.749      0                                                          10       0.747      0                                                          100      0.567      1.0                                         Compound of Example 10                                                                        1        0.722      0                                                          10       0.661      0                                                          100      0.023      96.0                                        Compound of Example 11                                                                        1        0.710      0                                                          10       0.669      0                                                          100      0.047      91.8                                        ______________________________________                                    

As shown in Tables 14A and B, it is evident that the compounds (I) and their lactones show very low cytotoxicity to mouse L929 cells.

Experimental Example 15 (Cytotoxicity to various tumor cell lines)

Cytotoxicity to human tumor cell lines was examined as follows:

Cells of human cell lines, K562, MOLT4, U937, HL60, KATOIII, KB, PC-6, PC-14 and CCRF-CEM were separately suspended to the concentration of 2×10⁵ cells/ml in the RPMI1640 culture medium supplemented with 20% FCS. Fifty μl of this suspension was added to each well of 96-well microculture plates to which 50 μl of the test solution had been added. After culturing at 37° C. in an atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide for 72 hours, the absorbancy at 550 nm was measured in the same way as the colorimetry using MTT in Experimental Example 1, and the percent suppression was calculated in the same manner as in Experimental Example 14, which was used as the index of cytotoxicity. As shown in Tables 15A to 15F showing the results of the calculation, the cytotoxicity of the compounds (I) and their lactones to the various cultured human tumor cell lines is weak, with the concentration of 50% inhibition (IC₅₀) being 10 μg/ml or more.

                  TABLE 15A                                                        ______________________________________                                         Compound of Example 1                                                                    Dose                  Suppression                                    Cell lines                                                                               (μg/ml) Absorbancy (%)                                            ______________________________________                                         K562      0          0.990      --                                                       0.1        0.886      10.6                                                     1.0        0.905      8.6                                                      10.0       0.929      6.2                                                      100.0      0.583      41.1                                           MOLT4     0          0.618      --                                                       0.1        0.560      9.4                                                      1.0        0.559      9.5                                                      10.0       0.499      19.3                                                     100.0      0.074      88.0                                           U937      0          0.642      --                                                       0.1        0.619      3.6                                                      1.0        0.567      11.7                                                     10.0       0.497      22.6                                                     100.0      0.156      75.7                                           HL60      0          0.631      --                                                       0.1        0.402      36.3                                                     1.0        0.390      38.2                                                     10.0       0.377      40.3                                                     100.0      0.101      84.0                                           KATOIII   0          0.961      --                                                       0.01       0.990      0                                                        0.1        0.972      0                                                        1.0        0.961      0                                                        10.0       0.869      9.6                                                      100.0      0.041      95.7                                           ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 15B                                                        ______________________________________                                         Compound of Example 1                                                                     Dose                  Suppression                                   Cell lines (μg/ml) Absorbancy (%)                                           ______________________________________                                         KB         0          0.888      --                                                       0.01       0.898      0                                                        0.1        0.865      2.6                                                      1.0        0.879      1.0                                                      10.0       0.886      0.2                                                      100.0      0.025      97.2                                          PC-6       0          0.272      --                                                       0.01       0.244      10.3                                                     0.1        0.245      9.9                                                      1.0        0.209      23.2                                                     10.0       0.202      25.7                                                     100.0      0.000      100.0                                         PC-14      0          0.787      --                                                       0.01       0.801      0                                                        0.1        0.770      2.2                                                      1.0        0.732      7.0                                                      10.0       0.751      4.6                                                      100.0      0.074      90.6                                          CCRF-CEM   0          0.708      --                                                       0.01       0.678      4.2                                                      0.1        0.709      0                                                        1.0        0.660      6.8                                                      10.0       0.637      10.0                                                     100.0      0.013      98.2                                          ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 15C                                                        ______________________________________                                         Compound of Example 4                                                                    Dose                  Suppression                                    Cell lines                                                                               (μg/ml) Absorbancy (%)                                            ______________________________________                                         K562      0          0.614      --                                                       0.1        0.524      14.7                                                     1.0        0.563      8.3                                                      10.0       0.525      14.5                                                     100.0      0.007      98.9                                           MOLT4     0          0.408      --                                                       0.1        0.351      14.0                                                     1.0        0.350      14.2                                                     10.0       0.315      22.8                                                     100.0      0.012      97.1                                           U937      0          0.373      --                                                       0.1        0.313      16.1                                                     1.0        0.384      0                                                        10.0       0.362      2.9                                                      100.0      0.004      99.0                                           HL60      0          0.346      --                                                       0.1        0.265      23.4                                                     1.0        0.300      13.3                                                     10.0       0.273      21.1                                                     100.0      0.008      97.7                                           KATOIII   0          0.430      --                                                       0.1        0.407      5.3                                                      1.0        0.401      6.7                                                      10.0       0.319      25.8                                                     100.0      0.009      97.9                                           ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 15D                                                        ______________________________________                                         Compound of Example 4                                                                     Dose                  Suppression                                   Cell lines (μg/ml) Absorbancy (%)                                           ______________________________________                                         KB         0          1.092      --                                                       0.1        0.884      19.0                                                     1.0        1.065      2.5                                                      10.0       0.726      33.5                                                     100.0      0.012      99.0                                          PC-6       0          0.291      --                                                       0.1        0.247      15.1                                                     1.0        0.273      6.2                                                      10.0       0.271      6.9                                                      100.0      0.014      95.2                                          PC-14      0          0.633      --                                                       0.1        0.656      0                                                        1.0        0.679      0                                                        10.0       0.657      0                                                        100.0      0.030      95.3                                          CCRF-CEM   0          0.636      --                                                       0.1        0.564      11.3                                                     1.0        0.556      12.6                                                     10.0       0.389      37.4                                                     100.0      0.004      99.4                                          ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 15E                                                        ______________________________________                                         Cell                 Dose     Absorb-                                                                               Suppression                               lines    Test substance                                                                             (μg/ml)                                                                              ancy   (%)                                       ______________________________________                                         K562     --          --       0.836  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.823  1.6                                                Example 5   1.0      0.810  3.1                                                            10.0     0.780  6.7                                                Compound of 0.1      0.823  1.6                                                Example 6   1.0      0.798  4.5                                                            10.0     0.811  3.0                                       MOLT4                --       0.620  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.591  4.7                                                Example 5   1.0      0.588  5.2                                                            10.0     0.508  18.1                                               Compound of 0.1      0.615  0.8                                                Example 6   1.0      0.599  3.4                                                            10.0     0.567  8.5                                       U937                 --       0.484  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.462  4.5                                                Example 5   1.0      0.485  0                                                              10.0     0.416  0                                                  Compound of 0.1      0.439  14.0                                               Example 6   1.0      0.436  9.9                                                            10.0     0.435  10.1                                      HL60                 --       0.746  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.593  20.5                                               Example 5   1.0      0.657  11.9                                                           10.0     0.590  20.9                                               Compound of 0.1      0.619  16.0                                               Example 6   1.0      0.589  21.0                                                           10.0     0.627  17.0                                      CCRF-CEM             --       0.503  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.485  3.6                                                Example 5   1.0      0.466  7.4                                                            10.0     0.394  21.7                                               Compound of 0.1      0.463  8.0                                                Example 6   1.0      0.457  9.1                                                            10.0     0.475  5.6                                       KB                   --       0.730  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.761  0                                                  Example 5   1.0      0.734  0                                                              10.0     0.711  2.6                                                Compound of 0.1      0.771  0                                                  Example 6   1.0      0.728  0.3                                                            10.0     0.707  3.2                                       PC-14                --       0.474  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.420  11.4                                               Example 5   1.0      0.396  16.5                                                           10.0     0.352  25.7                                               Compound of 0.1      0.372  21.5                                               Example 6   1.0      0.405  14.6                                                           10.0     0.351  25.9                                      ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 15F                                                        ______________________________________                                         Cell                 Dose     Absorb-                                                                               Suppression                               lines    Test substance                                                                             (μg/ml)                                                                              ancy   (%)                                       ______________________________________                                         K562                 --       0.385  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.387  0                                                  Example 7   1.0      0.332  13.8                                                           10.0     0.302  21.6                                               Compound of 0.1      0.327  15.1                                               Example 8   1.0      0.321  16.6                                                           10.0     0.298  22.6                                               Compound of 0.1      0.378  1.8                                                Example 9   1.0      0.364  5.5                                                            10.0     0.317  17.7                                               Compound of 0.1      0.390  0                                                  Example 10  1.0      0.343  10.9                                                           10.0     0.311  19.2                                               Compound of 0.1      0.317  17.7                                               Example 11  1.0      0.337  12.5                                                           10.0     0.257  34.5                                      MOLT4                --       0.145  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.107  26.2                                               Example 7   1.0      0.123  15.2                                                           10.0     0.100  31.0                                               Compound of 0.1      0.142  2.1                                                Example 8   1.0      0.137  5.5                                                            10.0     0.133  8.3                                                Compound of 0.1      0.111  23.4                                               Example 9   1.0      0.132  9.0                                                            10.0     0.142  2.1                                                Compound of 0.1      0.148  0                                                  Example 10  1.0      0.159  0                                                              10.0     0.170  0                                                  Compound of 0.1      0.182  0                                                  Example 11  1.0      0.150  0                                                              10.0     0.128  11.7                                      U937                 --       0.583  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.588  0                                                  Example 7   1.0      0.593  0                                                              10.0     0.551  5.5                                                Compound of 0.1      0.590  0                                                  Example 8   1.0      0.580  0.5                                                            10.0     0.513  12.0                                               Compound of 0.1      0.640  0                                                  Example 9   1.0      0.592  0                                                              10.0     0.584  0                                                  Compound of 0.1      0.545  6.5                                                Example 10  1.0      0.541  7.2                                                            10.0     0.517  11.3                                               Compound of 0.1      0.598  0                                                  Example 11  1.0      0.583  0                                                              10.0     0.449  23.0                                      HL60                 --       0.522  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.432  17.2                                               Example 7   1.0      0.427  18.2                                                           10.0     0.428  18.0                                               Compound of 0.1      0.434  16.9                                               Example 8   1.0      0.445  14.8                                                           10.0     0.418  19.9                                               Compound of 0.1      0.450  13.8                                               Example 9   1.0      0.435  16.7                                                           10.0     0.413  20.9                                               Compound of 0.1      0.447  14.4                                               Example 10  1.0      0.415  20.5                                                           10.0     0.406  22.3                                               Compound of 0.1      0.475  9.0                                                Example 11  1.0      0.456  12.6                                                           10.0     0.381  27.0                                      KB                   --       0.730  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.726  0.5                                                Example 7   1.0      0.695  4.8                                                            10.0     0.493  32.5                                               Compound of 0.1      0.741  0                                                  Example 8   1.0      0.749  0                                                              10.0     0.706  3.3                                                Compound of 0.1      0.778  0                                                  Example 9   1.0      0.762  0                                                              10.0     0.696  4.7                                                Compound of 0.1      0.743  0                                                  Example 10  1.0      0.735  0                                                              10.0     0.610  16.4                                               Compound of 0.1      0.679  7.0                                                Example 11  1.0      0.688  5.8                                                            10.0     0.510  30.1                                      PC-14                --       0.474  --                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.446  5.9                                                Example 7   1.0      0.424  10.5                                                           10.0     0.315  33.5                                               Compound of 0.1      0.452  4.6                                                Example 8   1.0      0.425  10.3                                                           10.0     0.326  31.2                                               Compound of 0.1      0.404  14.8                                               Example 9   1.0      0.441  7.0                                                            10.0     0.374  21.1                                               Compound of 0.1      0.433  8.6                                                Example 10  1.0      0.411  13.3                                                           10.0     0.317  33.1                                               Compound of 0.1      0.443  6.5                                                Example 11  1.0      0.413  12.7                                                           10.0     0.284  40.0                                      CCRF-CEM             --                                                                 Compound of 0.1      0.681  1.6                                                Example 7   1.0      0.653  5.6                                                            10.0     0.587  15.2                                               Compound of 0.1      0.720  0                                                  Example 8   1.0      0.694  0                                                              10.0     0.665  3.9                                                Compound of 0.1      0.702  0                                                  Example 9   1.0      0.696  0                                                              10.0     0.680  1.7                                                Compound of 0.1      0.672  2.9                                                Example 10  1.0      0.647  6.5                                                            10.0     0.645  6.8                                                Compound of 0.1      0.694  0                                                  Example 11  1.0      0.663  4.2                                                            10.0     0.603  12.9                                      ______________________________________                                    

Formulation Example

    ______________________________________                                         (1) Soft capsules (in one capsule)                                             ______________________________________                                         compound of Example 1    30 mg                                                 polyethyleneglycol-300  300 mg                                                 polysorbate 80           20 mg                                                 total                   350 mg                                                 ______________________________________                                    

Procedure of preparation

Polyethyleneglycol-300 and polysorbate 80 are added to the compound of Example 1, and the mixture is filled in soft capsules.

    ______________________________________                                         (2) Injections (in one ampoule, 10 ml)                                         ______________________________________                                         compound of Example 1    0.3%                                                  polyethyleneglycol-300  20%                                                    ethanol                 60%                                                    ______________________________________                                    

A sufficient quantity of distilled water is added to make the total amount 10 ml.

Procedure of preparation

Ethanol and polyethyleneglycol-300 are added to the compound of Example 1 for dissolution and a sufficient quantity of distilled water is added thereto to make the whole volume.

Thus, an injection containing 30 ml of the compound of Example 1 in 10 ml in an ampoule is obtained. 

We claim:
 1. A method for suppression of rejection in transplantation of organs or bone marrow which comprises administering at least one compound selected form compounds of formula ##STR15## wherein R represents a hydrogen atom or an alkanoyl having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, benzoyl or phenacetyl, Y represents carbonyl or hydroxymethylene and represents a single bond or a double bond and their lactones in an effective amount.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 which comprises administering at least one compound selected form the compounds of formula ##STR16## in an effective amount.
 3. A compound of formula ##STR17## or its lactone. 